Review Format

    Hey there book dragons! It's time for my second post in my new review tips series! I put a poll up on my Bookstagram, and you guys voted for me to make my original post a whole series... so here we go. In this second installment I will go over the way that I format my reviews to give potential readers a lot of information about the book.

    I start off with a brief synopsis of the book. I do this in my own words. Potential readers have more likely than not already read the synopsis on the back of the book. This same synopsis is also the one found on Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Goodreads, and all other book platforms. Writing a summary in your own words allows them to get to know some stuff that they may not have or to get interested if they did not think they would like the novel before.

    Next, I put a disclaimer that everything said is my own opinion and that my review should not be what makes their decision about whether or not to read the book. I find that people base too many of their decision based off of what other people said and I don't want that to be the case with my reviews. Everyone has different opinions on what they consider a good book and we reviewers need to respect that. If the book was given to me by an author or publisher for free in exchange for a review, I mention that and emphasize that the review is 100% my own, honest opinion.

    Now comes the fun part: the actual review. Please please please do a full discussion. I cannot express enough how much it bothers me when reviewers say their overall opinion on a book, but do not elaborate or back that opinion up. Reviews should discuss multiple aspects of the novel, not just 'I liked it,' 'I loved it,' 'I didn't like it,' and so on. I try to always discuss characters (development, relationships, arcs, etc.), world building, romances, plot, etc. I tend to throw in if I like any extra things included in the book (interviews, short stories, etc.), maps, covers, etc. Basically, anything about the book that is not about the actual writing. This is not necessary, but I find it fun and I like to think others do too. Plus I like to give credit where credit is due.

    After I go over each individual aspect of the book, I do an overall thoughts paragraph. I summarize all of my thoughts into 2-4 sentences, say whether or not I enjoyed it, and if I would recommend it to others. 

    Finally, I do a basic information section that allows readers to get some important information quickly. This is not done in complete sentences. It looks like this:

Rating: 

Author: 

Publisher: 

# of Pages: 

Genre: 

Series: 

    Is this format for reviewing perfect? No. I am sure there is stuff that I am not doing that I could be. I will make adjustments to my reviews as I think of new ways to deliver information. You do not have to follow this format; I have seen many great reviews that don't. However, if you want to, you are more than welcome to use this setup.

    Here are the steps I use to write my reviews in a condensed way:

1. Synopsis in my Own Words

2. Disclaimer

3. Full Discussion

4. Overall Thoughts

5. Basic Information